Eighteenth session of IOTC in Colombo from June 1-5

by Naalir Jamaldeen

The Eighteenth Session of Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) will be held from June 1 to 5 in Colombo for the first time and will be attended by over 250 delegates and observers from nearly 35 countries in the Indian Ocean Region and beyond. Representatives from major Distant Water Fishing Nations such as EU, Japan, Korea, France, Taiwan and China will also attend the meeting, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry spokesman D.S. Narendra Rajapaksa told the Sunday Observer.

Australia, Belize, China, Eritrea, European Union, France, Guinea, India, Comoros, IR Iran, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Sultanate of Oman, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Yemen and Mozambique are the current members of IOTC, he said.

Maldives, Senegal, South Africa and Uruguay come under the non cooperating parties.

The Indian Ocean has much economic importance due to its vast resources of tuna, second to those in the Western and Central Pacific. With the rapid development of fishing technology in the 60s and 70s commercial fishing grew in the Indian Ocean Waters with the advent of distant water fishing fleets and domestic fleet expansion putting pressure on tuna resources.

The developing scenario prompted the setting up of management body for Indian Ocean tuna, spokesman Rajapaksa said.

The objective of the commission is to promote cooperation among its members to ensure appropriate management, the conservation and optimum utilisation of stocks covered by this agreement and encouraging sustainable development of fisheries based on such stocks, he said.

Sri Lanka has been actively involved in the tuna resource management activities for over half a century, from the time of establishment of IOTC for the management of Indian Ocean in 1968.

Sri Lanka strengthened its involvement in the tuna management and the scientific data collection with shifting of the Indo-Pacific Tuna Project (IPTP) of United Nations Development Program from Philippines to Colombo in 1982. Sri Lanka hosted the project till it was wound up in 1990. Sri Lanka joined IOTC soon after the Draft Agreement for the Establishment of IOTC was adopted by FAO in 1993 thus becoming a founder member of IOTC by joining in 1994, he added.